discussion at Walmart

This is a discussion on discussion at Walmart within the Defensive Ammunition & Ballistics forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Last sunday at the gun range I had an attack of the stupids and loaded some 9mm into my sig229 40 S&W mag,first shot sounded ...

Last sunday at the gun range I had an attack of the stupids and loaded some 9mm into my sig229 40 S&W mag,first shot sounded funny and didn't cycle the action,as I ejected the case I looked at it and it was swelled out like a pregnant chicken

The standard substitution of 38 special in a 357 Magnum (but not the other way around) gets people thinking they can substitute other rounds. If my understanding is correct, the ".38" in .38 special is misleading. The .38 and .357 are the same diameter. Length of cartridge and amount of powder is the difference. There may be more to it than that, I can't remember all of the details.

I believe prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance should have REMAINED in schools, and the Ten Commandments should have REMAINED in schools, courthouses, and everywhere else it was before the ACLU got involved.

Last sunday at the gun range I had an attack of the stupids and loaded some 9mm into my sig229 40 S&W mag,first shot sounded funny and didn't cycle the action,as I ejected the case I looked at it and it was swelled out like a pregnant chicken

As you now know, 9mm in a .40 229 is not going to fire.
It will not normally damage the pistol. You mention an S&W Mag. Did you insert this into the P229?

I see this as a consequence of shops like WW running local gun shops out of business. This guy should be going to a friendly local gun shop and asking questions. They'll chuckle and point him in the right direction. At WW he could get himself hurt doing stupid ammo tricks. For what -- a hundred bucks off?

The standard substitution of 38 special in a 357 Magnum (but not the other way around) gets people thinking they can substitute other rounds. If my understanding is correct, the ".38" in .38 special is misleading. The .38 and .357 are the same diameter. Length of cartridge and amount of powder is the difference. There may be more to it than that, I can't remember all of the details.

the .38 in 38 special refers to the case diameter with bullet which is .379" it was back when they wanted to replace the 38 long colt. The .357 magnum was produced when they started calling the cartridge the caliber of the bullet. The .44 magnum was developed the same way as the .357 magnum... people loading the non magnum cartridge to dangerous pressures.... yee haw

Last edited by razor02097; February 15th, 2010 at 09:51 AM.
Reason: added info

The standard substitution of 38 special in a 357 Magnum (but not the other way around) gets people thinking they can substitute other rounds. If my understanding is correct, the ".38" in .38 special is misleading. The .38 and .357 are the same diameter. Length of cartridge and amount of powder is the difference. There may be more to it than that, I can't remember all of the details.

Yep I believe this is correct. And for the record the diameter of a 9mm is .354. Very close to the 357/38 special.
.003 of an inch is the thickness of a human hair.

Was at a friend's personal range some months back and a guy I know, who has been around firearms for a long time, accidentally loaded a .380 ACP into his Glock 19 (9x19). It fired, and didn't appear to damage the weapon.

He figured it out because it didn't have enough ooommph to rack the slide and chamber the next round, so he had a closer look at what was in the magazine.

In his defense, we're all getting into our upper 40's/early 50's and I don't think he had his reading glasses on...and the loading table had all sorts of boxes on it, .380, 9mm, .40, .45, etc.

We still tease him about it, of course.

You're not going to make it to your 60's doing that. Wear the glasses, clear the table of all but what you're shooting, whatever it takes!

At a range last November, a couple guys were there sighting in there rifles, both bolt action. They are trading back and forth who is at the bench. All of a sudden, a strange report as the one guy fires. A fair amount of smoke coming from the action, and the guy saying he felt particles hitting his face. I said it sounds like you had a case split, and asked if there was any chance he had loaded the wrong ammo. At first he said no, and then realized he had grabbed the wrong box. They wer both using the same brand ammo, however one was .270 Win and the other was 7mm Rem Mag. the guy was very embarrassed and pretty mad at himself for doing something so stupid.